Leaders pay condolences

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Prominent leaders from all the political parties and community organisations in the state opined that Kerala has lost an eminent public figure with the death of P K Narayana Panicker, president of the Nair Service Society (NSS). Chief Minister Oommen Chandy in his condolence message said that Panicker was an eminent leader who was respected by everyone and as a top functionary of the NSS, he not only worked for the Nair community but dedicated his life for building communal harmony.Opposition Leader V S Achuthanandan said that Narayana Panicker, who formulated the equidistance policy of the NSS, played an active role not to merge the NSS with the UDF fold.BJP state president V Muraleedharan said that Panicker’s demise was a loss to the society. Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, Archbishop Baselius Cleemis Catholicos said that working at the helm of the of NSS, Narayana Panicker also made it sure to keep a good and open relation with all leaders from different communities in the state. CPI leader Pannian Raveendran said that the contribution he made to the community and the state would never be forgotten. KPCC president Ramesh Chennithala said that Narayana Panicker was instrumental in making NSS, an organisation working for the larger interest of the state. CPM state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan said that at a crucial juncture, when the Sangh Parivar forces tried to make the NSS their subsidiary, Panicker resisted it and he had always worked for communal harmony.